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This is Halloween! This is Halloween — and today’s biggest stars weren’t afraid to go all out for their costumes this spooky season. Couples costumes were strong this year, with Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco kicking things off in whimsical Alice in Wonderland-inspired costumes. The Rare Beauty founder rocked a blonde wig and light blue dress […]
Halloween is just around the corner, and that means celebrities will be pulling out all the tricks and treats to impress fans with their costume choices. Over the years, A-listers have proven their passion for the holiday by showing off impressive costumes, embodying their favorite characters, creepy-crawly creatures and more with wigs, custom outfits and […]
In 2024, the average merchandise campaign consists of 50 pieces of artwork that can easily be adapted for use on varied tour and direct-to-consumer items, says Matt Young, president of Bravado, Universal Music Group’s merch and brand management company. But for Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS campaign, he says, “I think we’ve done at least 375 unique pieces of art.”Rodrigo’s singular vision for her first arena tour extended to the products sold at its kiosks. As the album rollout and tour details came together last year, the pop star coordinated with management, Bravado and label partners to ensure that each piece of merch “felt cohesive to the greater GUTS world,” says Michelle An, Interscope Geffen A&M president/head of creative strategy.
The number of items kept ballooning as Rodrigo leaned into the creative process, with a literally hands-on approach to identifying opportunities — from concocting mood boards to helping create color palettes to touching fabrics to ensure T-shirt quality. “This was Olivia saying, ‘I think this could be more. How do we do it?’ ” Young recalls.
Some highlights of Rodrigo’s GUTS merch line include unique jewelry (silver crescent moon rings and star necklaces, a nod to the tour’s set design), a butterfly design on tote bags and pool floats, an elastic bandage tin to store “vampire”-ready Band-Aids and, ahead of Netflix’s Oct. 29 release of her tour film, a set of five GUTS popcorn boxes, perfect for a premiere-night group hang. Along with the souvenirs that are now widely available at Rodrigo’s online shop, Young also points out that her various retail partners, ranging from global fashion chains to suburban Targets, also featured their own exclusive items: “The Zara in Europe has to have something different than the Hot Topic in the U.S.”
And just as Rodrigo ended each show sporting a tank top with a cheeky message customized for each city, every GUTS tour stop with multiple shows offered customized merch, including city-specific T-shirts and unique concert artwork designed in conjunction with local female artists. Rodrigo and Bravado approached the posters (shown below) as the ultimate collectible item — and once word got out about them early in the live run, fans started arriving to shows hours early to hit the merch booth.
“Is it logistically challenging? Sometimes, yes,” Young admits. “But it’s offset by the passion. You’re helping build a relationship with a fan in a way that they can’t really get anywhere else.”
This story appears in the Oct. 26, 2024, issue of Billboard.
SEVENTEEN has touched down in the United States. The superstar K-pop group kicked off the U.S. leg of their [RIGHT HERE] world tour at the Allstate Arena in Chicago on Tuesday night (Oct. 22), marking their first time onstage in the nation in more than two years. The three-hour show was jam-packed with 22 songs […]
Meet RIWOO
Image Credit: JoongSan Yang
“When we learn the choreography for the first time, we usually learn choreography that is almost complete, but I feel like we have to include our own style,” RIWOO says of his creative specialty in the group. “If our members want to show something, I want to make sure we can express it and edit it a little so that it’s more BOYNEXTDOOR.”
After a 14-year career in music that began with the formation of One Direction in 2010 and continued with a successful solo run, Liam Payne has died at age 31. The pop singer/songwriter died after falling from a third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, local police confirmed to CNN. Before his untimely death, the star […]
Benson Boone is not only a dynamic vocalist, but an equally powerful onstage performer. The 22-year-old singer has been blowing fans away during his performances with his wild, off-the-piano backflips. The Freddie Mercury-esque stage presence has helped catapult Boone into pop stardom, following the release of his Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 hit, “Beautiful Things.” […]
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s love story is a long one, full of highs and lows and lots of passion. However, Billboard confirmed on August 21, 2024, that the “Waiting for Tonight” singer officially filed for divorce from the actor after two years of marriage. The documents list the date of separation as April 26, 2024. […]
This year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival kicked off its first weekend on Oct. 4 – 6, taking over Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. This year’s headliners included Tyler the Creator, Dua Lipa, Chris Stapleton and Blink-182, as well as performances from artists including Carin Leon, Benson Boone, Renee Rapp, Norah Jones, Teddy Swims, Chappell […]
Paris Fashion Week is underway, with designers showing off their womenswear looks ahead of the new season in the City of Light. Paris Fashion Week — running from Sept. 23 to Oct. 1 — is hosting its annual event where a number of designer brands are presenting Womenswear Spring/Summer 2025 collections. And, of course, along […]